


One More Try

by TheLiteraryMess



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Marvel Universe, Spider-Man - Freeform, Spider-Man: Far From Home (Movie), mcu - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:28:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25306762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLiteraryMess/pseuds/TheLiteraryMess
Summary: Taking place during Spider-Man: Far From Home, Peter Parker devises a plan to win back his girlfriend. During a field trip to Europe, unforeseen circumstances and misunderstandings get in the way.
Relationships: Peter Parker x Reader, Peter Parker/Reader, Steve Rogers x daughter!reader, Tom Holland (Actor)/Peter Parker/Reader
Comments: 6
Kudos: 38





	1. All That I'm Asking is One More Try

This fic was originally based on my oc named Juliette, daughter of Steve Rogers.

“Peter?”

“Y/N/N…”

“They said it’s been five years Peter. So that means five years since you told me-” It had felt like only moments ago since their moment, and yet they could both feel the change of the past five years. Things would never be the same again.

“Yeah.”

“But…it was a heat of the moment thing right? Things are so different now, surely it doesn’t count. So, maybe we can just forget it happened? At least until we work out how to settle back into this.”

“…whatever you want, Y/N.”

So that was it? He wasn’t going to fight? Well sure, Y/N didn’t want that but it hurt even more that Peter didn’t have much of a reaction to her request. She nodded slowly then looked around at the ruins of the compound. They had won, but at what cost?

(8 Months Later)

“I have a plan.” Peter announced excitedly as he slid into his seat beside Ned. He’d been planning for weeks now, pretty much ever since he had taken home the form for the Europe trip.

“Plan?” Ned questioned, knowing that it most likely wouldn’t be good.

“To get Y/N back!” Peter stated the obvious. “Okay first, I’m gonna sit next to her on the flight. Second, I’m gonna buy a dual headphone adapter so we can jam to all those old songs she likes and watch movies the whole time. Three, when we go to Venice- Venice is super famous for making stuff out of glass right?”

“True.”

Peter leaned forward conspiratorially. “So, I’m gonna buy her a yellow carnation necklace because it’s her favourite flower because of, well-”

“The time you accidentally bought her a passive aggressive bouquet, and she thought it was hilarious.” Ned confirmed.

“Yeah, that. Four, when we go to Paris, I’m gonna take her to the top of the Eiffel Tower, give her the necklace-”

“Ooh.” Ned interrupted sarcastically, as if it was an idea he’d never heard before.

“Stop interrupting. And five, I’m gonna tell her I still love her…and then six, hopefully she tells me that she still loves me too and we can finally get over the elephant in the room.”

Ned nodded. “Oh, don’t forget step seven.”

Peter clicked his pen and reached for a scrap of paper in a panic, not a single part of his plan could go wrong. “Step seven…?”

“Don’t do any of that.”

Peter paused and gave Ned a look. Shouldn’t his best friend be supportive of his love life? “Why?” He sighed.

“Because she rejected you, dude! This is our one chance to be bachelors in Europe, Peter! You can continue pursuing her like a lovesick puppy when we get back.”

Peter narrowed his eyes at his best friend. “She did not reject me, okay? We just mutually agreed that everything had happened so fast and we needed time to consider whether our feelings might change post-blip. I can’t give up on her.”

“Look,” Ned persisted. “I may not know much outside of science but I know this. Europeans love Americans.”

That definitely didn’t sound accurate, wasn’t it the other way around? “Really?”

“And more than half of them are women!”

“Okay, sure.” Peter agreed, deciding not to crush his best friend’s hoped. “But I really think I still have a shot with Y/N, man. She’s strong and determined and sometimes I catch her looking at me and I feel like 8 months has been long enough and- she’s coming over. Just don’t say anything.” He hissed as the brunette approached their table. Peter’s heart performed its own little gymnastics routine when he noticed that she was wearing his blue Midtown sweater. After the snap, they’d both been having nightmares and Y/N spent a lot of time at his place so he gave it to her to sleep in. Once the living quarters of the compound had been rebuilt, Y/N had gone to stay there but asked to keep the sweater. Peter assumed it was some kind of comfort thing and he certainly wasn’t going to say no to her wearing his clothes.

“‘Sup fellow dorks? Excited about the science trip? I’ve never actually been on a vacation before, should be fun.”

Peter’s eye lit up as he fiddled with the pen in his hands. “Hey, Y/N/N. Uh yeah, we’re just talking about the trip.” Well, that was half true.

“Yeah, and Peter’s plan” Ned added nervously. Again, true, but Peter glared at his friend for spilling.

“Peter has a plan?”

“I don’t- I don’t have a plan.” Way to make him feel like an even bigger dork, Ned.

“No, he’s just gonna collect tiny spoons while we’re travelling to other countries.” Ned cut in with a wink at Peter. Still not helping.

Y/N narrowed her eyes for a second, still long enough to almost give Peter a heart attack, then shrugged. “My dad wanted me to send postcards. I always thought they were old people kind of things.”

Peter shook his head. “I’m not collecting tiny spoons, he’s collecting tiny spoons.”

“Oh, okayyy. Well, that was a real rollercoaster. But I’ll totally tag along when you visit the gift shops, Ned.”

Really? Now Ned would get to spend time with Y/N! He needed to find something that Aunt May would want so he could accompany them.

“Well, I’m gonna go. Travel tip? Buy some of those hard candies that you can suck when the plane takes off so your ears don’t pop. Happens all the time on the quinjets.”

“Smart, will do.” Peter smiled awkwardly and nodded while the two boys watched her go.

“Woah. Dude, I think that went really great.” Ned beamed while Peter glared at him.

“I wanna stab you with this pen.”


	2. Did You Think We'd End This Way?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter's plan to win Y/N back is halted when a monster attacks Venice.

Y/N Rogers was starting to regret every decision from the past five hours. Particularly, following Peter to space. Space! Ned would never let them live this down. This morning, she had been watching Panda videos with MJ, now she was on a whole other planet fighting a giant grape. She was so grounded. First though, they needed to get that gauntlet.

She and Peter grabbed onto either side of the glove and pulled but it was like trying to lift a house. Her second guess was to throw rocks at him while the others worked on the gauntlet but they bounced off his purple skin. They were so close, just a little more.

“What’s he doing?” Y/N looked up to see Starlord, doing something that was only making Thanos angrier until he sent the group flying with a swing of his hand.

“Oh shi-” She hit a large boulder and crumpled, rolling away from it and grasping her shoulder in pain.

Peter reacted instantly and swung towards the purple raisin to counter attack, until he was slammed against the ground again not too far from Y/N. Y/N tried to pull herself up but the sharp pain in her leg caused her to collapse against the rocks once again. She looked at the fight before her and her stomach dropped. Thanos was single-handedly kicking all their asses.

Peter looked around and spotted Y/N still on the ground, he swung over to her and knelt down. His eyes zeroed in on her leg and the grimace on his face forced her to do the same. Calling it a graze was an understatement. There were pieces of shrapnel sticking to the reddish-pink flesh of her calf.

“Peter…it hurts.” She whimpered. She felt helpless and weak and the world felt heavy on her shoulders.

Peter glanced back up, clearly trying to keep a brave face but Y/N could see every ounce of concern in those eyes. “It’s okay, you’re okay. Just stay with me. I’m not leaving.”

The fight was still ongoing but Y/N couldn’t let go of that hopelessness in her gut. “Peter, I don’t want to fight anymore. Can we go home?” Peter looked hesistant and she clutched at his hand. “I’m begging you. Walk away from this. You have nothing to prove. Sometime’s it’s braver not to fight.”

Peter shook his head. “We can’t give up. They’re going to need everyone’s help for this. I’ll get you home.” He waved for the wizard to come over.

Y/N wasn’t having any of it. She wasn’t going anywhere without Peter. “I’m not leaving you. It’s supposed to be the two of us. We can’t win!”

Peter looked pained as he brushed his thumb across her cheek. “Okay. Just do one thing for me. Remember I love you.”

Y/N frowned, wondering why he was saying it like that until she felt herself slipping and the gold sparks circled the ground beneath her. “Peter no!”

She fell through the portal.

(8 Months Later)

Venice, Italy. To some, it was the most romantic city in the world. To the students of Midtown High, it was the first stop of their vacation. And things were already going wrong since the Da Vinci Museum was closed until November and even for a school trip, the hotel kinda sucked. But to Y/N Rogers, it was magical. It was her first vacation, and she got to share it with Peter. She was glad that he didn’t hate her for her rejection after fighting Thanos. Of course she still loved Peter, more than anything, but five years had passed and she knew that things had changed. She had changed. She needed to learn hot to accept this fresh life before she allowed anyone else into it. She was ready now, but she worried that Peter had moved on. It was cruel to keep him waiting for eight months and she certainly didn’t blame him. She had wanted to sit with him on a plane but every time she tried to get close to the boy, Brad Davis was closer. They’d ended up sitting together on the flight and he wouldn’t stop asking questions about her friendship with Peter. At least they were still friends, she was grateful for that.

Y/N was walking along the canal with her camera in hand when she saw Peter heading down the same way. It was a little surprising to see him without Ned, but she was glad their friend had found romance with Betty Brant rather than risk getting his heart broken by a European woman he’s only have a week with.

“Boh!”

Much to Y/N’s amusement, Peter almost jumped out of his skin at her exclamation and turned like a deer caught in headlights.

“What?” A really cute deer. Doe?

“Boh.” Y/N clarified. “It’s an Italian word MJ and I just learned.”

“What does it mean.” Peter asked as they fell into step with one another, walking along the riverside.

“That’s the best part, it can mean a million things. It could mean ‘I don’t know’, ‘get out of my face’, ‘I don’t know and get out of my face.’” Y/N chucked. “Kinda like the anti-aloha. MJ was born to say that word. She claims it’s the best thing Italy has ever created, except maybe espresso. I beg to differ, I mean have you tasted the gelato here?”

Peter grinned in amusement. “Ohhh, so you’ve been eating gelato all morning. So what word were you born to say?”

Y/N gave it some thought and shrugged. “I dunno. I haven’t discovered it yet. But I’m determined to find my word before the end of this trip.”

A man blocking their way interrupted them, holding out a single rose. He clearly thought they were a couple and was trying to encourage Peter to buy it for Y/N. While he internally panicked, she nudged him gently and grinned.

“Boh.”

The man scowled but left them alone.

“Whoa.” Peter murmured as they watched the street-seller retreat down the steps.

“Look’s like I’m not so powerless after all. The power of bo compels thee.” She snickered then glanced down. “So, what’s in the bag?”

Peter followed her gaze and stuttered for words for a moment. “Oh, uh…boh.” He stated proudly.

Y/N smiled. “Nice, but that word is already taken by MJ. Find your own, Spidey.”

“Not Spidey here, remember? My best friend made me promise her I would take a break from all that so that I don’t disappear in space again.”

“Ooh best friend. Don’t tell Ned.” She grinned and nudged him playfully as the bag swung between them, but she didn’t miss his body tensing slightly.

So maybe not everything was back to normal.

“Pete, I-” She started but was cut off when she noticed his attention wasn’t on her, but something over her shoulder.

Y/N turned just in time to see the waves rising up as the water began to ripple before it surged upwards. She backed up until she hit Peter’s chest to avoid behind splashed as his arm circled around her as they stumbled away from the edge. So much for a relaxing summer. “Peter, I didn’t read about water jets in the canal.”

“Because there aren’t. Go get Ned and Betty then rejoin the class. I’ll clear the area.” Peter directed as he let her go and ran in the opposite direction.

Y/N was hesitant about letting Peter run into danger by himself after all they’d been through but he could take care of himself. Instead, she helped her friends out of the boat when it crashed onto the pavement behind her, helping them to land before the water could attack them again.

“Are you okay?” She asked Betty as she tugged her ahead so that they could keep moving. “Up the steps!”

They ran as a group and eventually found the rest of the class taking shelter inside one of the stores. Y/N and Ned remained in the doorway, looking out for Peter. Y/N’s instinct was telling her to run out and help him but her head reminded her that fists would be useless against water and keeping her friends safe was just as important. Her hand gripped the shaking doorframe tightly while her eyes scanned the ongoing destruction. By now, the water had taken on an almost human-like form. How could Peter possibly fight that? She swore she could see some kind of web-like substance fly towards the water and internally groaned. Here lies Peter Parker. Cause of death? Trying to fight water with web fluid.

“Whoa, who’s the new guy?” Ned shook Y/N’s arm gently to get her attention.

She followed his gaze and frowned.

“We didn’t add any new guys to the team.” She muttered as she watched the man in green with what looked like a fish bowl for a head shooting lasers. How that was more effective on water she didn’t know but it seemed to work and Y/N felt grateful that Peter had some help.

Maybe having a new hero wouldn’t be so bad, it reduced the risk of Peter getting hurt. Maybe he could go back to being the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.

“Did Peter just tell him that he’s sticky?”

———————————————————————

Peter had rejoined the class back at the hotel and Y/N had almost gone to throw her arms around him until she realised how wet he was. “Go change, they’re making us call home. There’s only one phone here and one down the street so it could be a while.” She let him go and stood back in line, playing third wheel to Ned and Betty in order to avoid Brad.

Eventually it was her turn, and she dialed her mother’s number. The avengers knew she could take care of herself; she was more worried about her mother wanting her to fly back home. She leaned against the wall and then her mother’s worried tone came through the receiver. “Hey. Yeah, yeah no I’m fine. Peter was with me. He’s okay, we’re okay. No, I don’t want to come home. If it was serious Fury would send the team, right? We haven’t even heard from him since the funeral so there’s nothing to worry about. I’ve gotta go, he’ll want to speak to May. I love you too.” She glanced over her shoulder and Peter had already returned. She couldn’t read his expression. Was he worried about Fury not getting in touch? Her mother kept talking, but she knew he should speak to May as soon as possible. The woman had already lost him once.

“Yes, I’ll stay away from water monsters from now on. Mum- mum I have to go. I’m hanging up now, bye.” She slammed the phone back in place with a sigh. She couldn’t go home, not until she could tell Peter how she felt.

While Peter called May, Y/N settled down on a partially dry spot on the stairs as she joined the rest of the class who were all focused intently on the tv screen. The scene from the canal was already on the news as the entire city wandered who their mysterious saviour was.

“I don’t think we should be pegging him as a hero just yet. We don’t know what his agenda is.” She told the rest of the class, MJ nodding in agreement but nobody else seemed convinced. They still didn’t know what the water thing was and while Ned’s assumption of aliens was probable, it didn’t ease Y/N’s mind.

She glanced over when Flash mentioned him being nothing compared to Spider-Man and grinned. “Okay, what is it with you and Spider-Man?”

“What? He’s just awesome, okay? Weren’t there rumours that you were dating the guy? He has a dope suit, protects the neighbourhood and you know, he’s inspiring. He inspires me to be a better man.”

Peter walked over and stood at Juliette’s side, giving her a smile of acknowledgement, though it seemed a little strained after the ‘dating’ comment. Y/N had hoped that people had moved on from that rumour.

“Sup dickwad? Thought you’d drowned.” Flash remarked. Ah, there he was.

“I think he’s in love with you.” Y/N whispered and Peter tried to mask his laughter.

“His name isn’t mysterio, it’s Italian for man of mystery.” She corrected Brad under her breath but he still heard her and didn’t seem that bothered. Why couldn’t she shake him?  
“Cool name.” Ned and Betty noted, then proceeded to fawn over one another.

“How much of that made the news?” Peter asked her.

Y/N smiled knowingly. “Unfortunately, people were too stupid to capture any footage of you being heroic. Only Fishbowl Head made the news, you’re safe.”

“Good. I mean, I wasn’t that heroic. How’re you holding up?” He reached over the banister of the stairs to flick a damp strand of hair out of Y/N’s face with a grin.

“I’m okay, just a little shaken I guess. I had this false hope that maybe everyone was too exhausted from the snap to start playing the villain. I did get a free hot chocolate out of it though.” She smiled weakly and held up the mug that Mr Harrison had given out to everyone.

Peter nodded and changed the subject. “So Paris tomorrow. Go to the Eiffel Tower, should be great.”

Y/N shrugged. “I heard that it’s always full of tourists. You spend so much time queuing to get up there that by the time you do, you’re tired and want to leave.” She told him. A momentarily look of panic seemed to flash on Peter’s eyes so she smiled and said “So we’ll have to get our obligatory selfie then set off to find the best croissants in France. Just us though, Ned and Betty are starting to creep me out.”Peter grinned and nodded. “Deal. We can’t let them have all the fun.” Y/N grinned back and leaned her head against his side. She wouldn’t be letting them have all the romance either.


	3. Tell Me How This Ain't No Relationship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter's trip is hijacked by none other than Nick Fury and Y/N begins to wonder whether Peter has finally moved on.

After having to fight actual water and then not being able to do anything about Y/N and Brad getting closer, all Peter wanted to do was go to bed so he could start his plan anew in Paris. He still had step two and three in place. At least, that was until Nick Fury had shown up in his hotel room and tranquilised his best friend. This wasn’t exactly the relaxing vacation he had been desperate for. Sure, he had dreamed of being an Avenger since Berlin, but now all he wanted was to be Y/N’s. He wanted back the relationship they’d had before he spilled his feelings during a fight like an idiot. It wasn’t like he’d ruined everything with those three words; he knew that Y/N had loved him too. She would always be his best friend. It was just that ever since they agreed on remaining friends for the meantime, there was always a kind of awkward ambience in the room. The ghost of unspoken words hovered in the air. The echo of those three words neither of them dared to repeat.

That was just the struggle of being in love the rest of the world insisted on being your top priority. Peter would spend the rest of his life constantly choosing between both. Dancing with the demons in his mind.

“Stark left these for you.”

Peter was pulled from his thoughts when Fury spoke and glanced down at the wooden case in his hand, unsure whether to take it.

“Really?” Y/N liked to joke that Fury would make a great Mace Windu. He was certainly threatening enough. Fury seemed persistent so Peter took the case and opened it up to see the glasses Tony had worn that day Thanos’ followers came to New York.

“Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. Stark said you wouldn’t get that because it’s not a Star Wars reference.” Fury snickered.

Nice one Tony, still calling him out from beyond the grave. Unfortunately though, Peter was starting to understand exactly what that meant. Being Spider-Man was hard enough. Now people expected him to be the next Iron Man on top of that. Peter wasn’t ready. Y/N got to avoid the responsibilities of being like Steve. She was lucky.

Peter closed the glasses case as Fury informed him the boat was pulling up. He couldn’t see a dock though, they seemed to enter a tunnel instead. They climbed out of the boat and the teenager followed Fury through what seemed like an endless labyrinth until it hollowed out. This. Was. Awesome. It was a superhero base! Ned would lose his mind.

At Fury’s assurance that everyone already knew his identity, he took off his mask and breathed in the fresh air. Well, just air. Damp, stuffy air.

“There we have Maria Hill,” Fury began and Peter glanced over. Y/N talked highly of her but she seemed completely unfazed by his arrival.  
“That is Dimitri.” Big guy with a big gun. Peter made a mental note to avoid him as much as possible.  
“And this is Mr Beck.” This one needed no introduction, Peter already recognised the cape he wore.

“Mysterio?” He breathed out in awe as the man turned around. He was attractive by all standards and having seen him in action once already, Peter couldn’t help feeling a little intimidated.

“What?”

Peter remembered where he was and loosened his stance. “Doesn’t matter. It’s just what my friends have been calling you.” Now that he thought about it, he definitely sounded like a fanboy. He really had to stop doing that.

“Well, you can call me Quentin.”

Peter approached, awestruck, and shook the man’s hand. What a grip! Was his own too floppy?

“Hey, you handed yourself well out there today. I saw what you did with the tower. We could use someone like you on my world.”

So awesome!

“Thanks. I’m sorry, your world?” Was Ned right about aliens? Y/N would kill Peter if he had to run off to space again.

“Mr Beck is from Earth,” Fury interrupted as if he didn’t have time for this. He was the one who had brought Peter here, though. “Just, not yours.”

“There are multiple realities, Peter. This is Earth, dimension #616. I’m from Earth #833.”

No freaking way. Peter rushed forward. “I’m sorry, you’re saying there’s a multiverse? Because I thought that was just theoretical. I mean, that completely changes how we understand the initial singularity. We’re talking about an internal inflation system and how does that even work with all the quantum- ha, it’s insane!”

He beamed and turned to the others to see if they understood how exciting this news was. All he received were looks of confusion and impatience. “Sorry. It’s really cool.” He mumbled the last part as he turned back to Beck. He understood that not everybody could be science geeks but it was still disappointing.

At least Beck seemed impressed.

“Don’t ever apologise for being the smartest person in the room.”

Another beam. This was almost better than stealing Captain America’s shield.”

“Anyway.” Agent Hill cut in. Anyone would assume that she was the kind of woman who was all business, but Peter swore he saw amusement in her eyes. Y/N must like her for a reason.

They crowded around the hexagonal table (again, awesome) as a holograph of some kind of planet appeared. Even more awesome.

“They were born in stable orbits within black holes. Creatures, formed from the primary elements; air, water, fire, earth. The science division had a technical name, we just called them elementals.”

“Versions of them exist across all mythologies.” Hill confirmed.

“Turns out that myths are real.”

Finally! That was something Peter understood. “Like Thor. Thor was a myth, and now I study him in my physics class.” He’d also fought with him and seen him at Tony’s funeral, but he decided against mentioning that the Norse God didn’t really look as ‘godly’ as Peter had expected. More like one of the old guys Ned sometimes played online games with.

“These myths are threats.” Fury warned, glaring at Peter to keep the interrupting to a minimum.

“They materialised on my earth many years ago. We mobilised and fought them, but with each battle they grew. Got stronger. I was part of the last battalion left trying to stop them. All we did was delay the inevitable.” Peter glanced at Beck and nodded imperceptibly. He knew all about being the world’s last hope.

“But the elementals are here now. Attacking the same coordinates. Our satellites confirm it.”

“So thank Mr Beck for destroying the other three. There’s only one left, fire.”

“The strongest of them all. The one that destroyed my earth…it’s the one that took my family.”

Peter noticed Beck twisting a wedding back on his finger and he thought back to Thanos, when he had shoved Y/N through that portal. It hadn’t been enough, they both got dusted. If only Beck’s earth had Tony Stark.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered.

“And it will be in Prague in approximately 48 hours.” Agent Hell, ever the optimist, reminded them.

“We have one mission. Kill it. And you’re coming with us.” Fury directed that one to Peter.

Suddenly, all the pressure the teenage boy had been trying to escape came flooding back, crashing onto his shoulders in one enormous wave. So much for a relaxing vacation.

“I’m sorry, did you say Prague?” It wasn’t space, but it wasn’t Paris either. He needed to be in Paris for both his sanity and for Y/N. “Heh. Mr Fury, this all seems very big time. You know, huge, superhero kind of stuff? And, I mean, I’m just the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, sir.”

“Bitch, please! You’ve been to space!”

Okay. True.

“I know but that was an accident.” Not entirely false, he didn’t plan to go on a day trip to space that morning. Just a local power plant. “Sir, come on. There’s gotta be someone else you could use. What about Thor?” Lord knew the god could use a new purpose.

“Off-world” Shit.

“Okay, um…Doctor Strange.”

“Unavailable.” Really? What was he doing, annoying another villain into giving up ending the world?

“Captain Marvel!” He pleaded.

“Don’t invoke her name.”

Well he definitely needed to ask about that at one point. For now though, he needed to avoid things that could risk him getting killed. Y/N would murder him.

“Sir, look. I really wanna help, I do. But if my aunt finds out I left my class trip, again, she’s gonna kill me. And if I’m seen like this in Europe after the Washington Monument, my whole class will figure out who I am and then- and then the whole world will figure out who I am. And then I’m done.”

“Okay.” Fury gave in. “I understand.”

Wait. “I’m sorry, what?” Wasn’t Nick Fury the man who always got his way?

“Why don’t you get back before your teachers miss you and become suspicious?” He turned. “Dimitri, take him back to the hotel please.”

Peter let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Mr Fury, good luck. And…one more thing? Please keep Y/N out of this. I know she’s strong but everything that’s happened lately had really taken a toll on her. She wouldn’t want me to fight and I don’t want her getting hurt either.”

Agent Hill glanced up at Peter then, gazing at him with emotions Peter couldn’t decipher. Maybe she wasn’t expressing any at all.

“See ya, kid.” Mr Beck smiled knowingly as he turned to leave.

“Yeah, see ya.” Was he an idiot for turning all this down?

“Bye ma’am.”

“Yeah.” Still nothing.

Peter exhaled as he walked back to the boat. This was for his own good, he told himself. He needed a break and he didn’t want Y/N to worry.

Besides, now he could focus on his plan.

—————————————————————————————————-

Y/N was pissed. Yesterday was hard enough with the water incident and then when she went to Ned and Peter’s room that evening she had gotten no answer. She thought that Peter would have wanted to hang out more so that they could work on gaining back the relationship they’d had before the snap. Was he ignoring her to avoid telling her that he no longer loved her? Venice was meant to be a city of love, not rejection.

She zipped up her suitcase and helped MJ who would practically mounting her own to get it shut. The girl was all agression and no patience. For once, Y/N knew how that felt.

“You know, yellow carnations are really the worst flowers to brighten up a room. What with their meaning and all.” MJ pointed out.

Y/N looked over her shoulder at the wilting flowers on the nightstand and nodded. “Yeah, I know what they mean.” Was all she said, giving one last tug to the zip of MJ’s suitcase until she gave up. “Please don’t buy any more books.”

“Please never say that again. Now come on, Paris awaits.”

Another ‘city of love’. This time Y/N determined not to let it go to waste.

The rest of the class were stood at the back of the hotel, waiting, when the girls made it downstairs. As was Brad. He took their luggage with a smile and went to join the others. MJ followed suit as she warned him not to shake her suitcase too much or the books might get damaged.

Y/N glanced to the side where Peter and Ned stood talking, she barely caught the last of their conversation as she approached the two best friends performing their handshake.

“Hey, I tried knocking on your door last night but nobody answered. If you two are gonna fall asleep before midnight every night then I’ll have to find new friends who actually know how to have fun.” She teased, meeting Peter’s gaze.

He seemed guilty about it, maybe she was assuming his feelings too early. Why were things so complicated? It was never this hard when the two were crushing on one another, each one perfectly oblivious so the other’s feelings.

Before Peter had the chance to redeem himself, Mr Harrington came out to announce that they had upgraded the trip to Prague instead.

“Prague is an upgrade from Paris? Where else am I meant to live on nothing but croissants?” She glanced at Peter with a frown and started toward the bus.

Maybe if she’d lingered a little longer, she would have heard Peter tell Ned that Nick Fury had hijacked their trip.

Y/N watched as Betty called Ned to sit with her. They’d be cute if it wasn’t so…sickly. “Did you notice the bus driver watching you?” She whispered as Peter slumped into the seat beside her. He must have been bummed about Paris.

“No. Should I be worried? Not every guy in a bus with blacked-out windows is a murderer, Y/N/N.” He played it off as a joke.

Y/N rolled her eyes but Peter had a point, she was starting to become a little paranoid. “Okay, you’re right. Maybe he just likes your telekineses shirt. Which proves once again that I’m the best gift-giver in the world.”

Peter smiled. “You’re a lot of things. Best conversationist, best friend, best gift-giver. Oh but you suck at decision making.

“I know that but hey.” Y/N pouted.

Peter snickered then pulled out a bad of Haribo from his backpack. “Does this make up for it?”

“Oh my god I love you.” She beamed.

A beat.

Why did she have to say that of all things?

The two stared at one another for a moment then Y/N backtracked.

“I didn’t mean-”

“What’re friends for?” Peter smiled and opened up the pack, propping it up between them. Separating them.

“Best friends.” Y/N corrected, smiling through the pain.

“So, shame about Paris huh?”

Y/N shrugged. “I guess, I would’ve liked the food. But is it really the most romantic city in the world or is it just a city full of fuck boys and rats that can cook?”

Peter laughed. “True. People just like the accent. I don’t think it’s the place that makes something romantic, more the experiences you have there.”

Like the rooftop of Peter’s apartment.

It didn’t take that long for the pair to get through the sweets as they talked about Prague and how they should spend the next two weeks of the field trip. The moment of unspoken feelings was long forgotten and eventually Y/N felt her eyelids start to droop. She bit her lip and leaned her head against Peter’s shoulder, testing the waters.

“Can I sleep on you without making things weird?”

“Weird? I don’t know her.”

Y/N smiled and closed her eyes. This was okay. It wasn’t exactly like before the snap, but it was okay.

Once he was sure that Y/N was asleep and comfortable, he leaned over slightly to grab the glasses from his backpack, one arm keeping the girl in place. He put them on and glanced at the note. “For the next Tony Stark. I choose you. Say EDITH.” Peter almost did a double take when the voice of the A.I spoke in his ears, he glanced around to make sure nobody else heard and continued to experiment with the features. Even from beyond the grave, Tony was always looking out for the little guy.

Peter glanced down at Y/N asleep on his shoulder and kissed the top of her head. Everything would be okay.


	4. The Good Side of You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The class has arrived in Prague but the trouble has only just begun as Peter is dragged into Nick Fury's mission and Y/N becomes increasingly fed up with his secrets.

“May says if you don’t eat, she’ll take away your PlayStation. Then Harley said he’d buy it off her.”

Y/N balanced the plate of food from the buffet in one hand as she sat down at the end of the dock beside Peter and handed it over to him. She was trying to be cautious with what she said without treating Peter like he was fragile, but she worried. Peter may as well have changed his last name to Stark, he was practically family, so he had taken the death just as hard as Pepper, James and Morgan. Y/N breaking up with him that same day was just the lemon-flavoured icing on an already sour cake.

She didn’t really know what to say, nothing could make up for the sacrifice Tony had made. All they could really do was try to survive as long as possible so it wasn’t for nothing. So, Y/N stayed silent. Peter would talk when he was ready. She would wait for him as long as it took.

She couldn’t say that she knew exactly what was running through Peter’s head lately, she had been close with Tony but not like Peter had been. But she knew what it was like to lose someone you loved. Nat had been the one to welcome her to the team with open arms, to force Steve to spend time with his daughter and bond with her. She also taught Y/N everything she needed to know on the battlefield. When Nat sacrificed herself, they hadn’t had the time to host a funeral like this. She’d deserved better.

What kept Y/N going was the knowledge that it was probably the only way Natasha wanted to go out, saving all their asses. It was such a Nat move. And while the compound had been destroyed during past Thanos’ attack, Y/N had managed to salvage one of Natasha’s favourite leather jackets. She was determined to carry on her legacy.

“I keep thinking about what you said.” Peter finally spoke up, though his eyes remained on the plate in his lap. “About when Doctor Strange said there was only one possible outcome where we beat Thanos. You said that it could’ve been different. That there could’ve been more outcomes beforehand, but we’d wasted them all by the time he’d gone forward in time. Y/N/N- I’m the one who insisted on staying on the ship. If he wasn’t looking out for us too, maybe things would have been different. And afterwards, I was so close to getting that gauntlet off him. What if I wasted the one outcome where Tony would have survived? What if I killed him?”

Y/N’s heart cracked at the ache in Peter’s voice and the fact that he could even waste one thought in thinking Tony’s death was his fault. “No. No you didn’t kill him, Peter. I refuse to let you believe that. Tony did what he’s always done. He helped people despite the consequences. Maybe he was scared, maybe he had conflicting feelings, but he didn’t question it. He knew what he was doing. Tony always knew.”

It was then that Peter broke, the food in his lap sodden with tears. He slumped against her shoulder. “How do I stop it hurting?”

Y/N smiled through tears of her own and wrapped her arms tightly around Peter, holding him as if he wasn’t already broken.

“I don’t know. Just don’t stop living.”

(8 Months Later)

“Y/N/N, we’re stopping.”

Peter’s hushed whisper coaxed Y/N out of her slumber and she groaned a little at having to get up now. She sat up and rubbed the remains of sleep from her eyes, dropping her hands as she noticed that people were already making their way off the bus. Ned and Betty had already disappeared together, so much for him and Y/N browsing the gift shop together.

“I need to pee. Meet you in the shop?” She suggested as she turned back to Peter, waiting for his confirmation before she went ahead.

By the time she had done her business and fixed her hair where it had been squished against Peter’s shoulder, the boy still wasn’t in the store. Why did men take forever when having a dump?

She walked inside anyway, examining a shelf of ornaments near the back of the store while she waited. There were many porcelain statues, candle holders, and kitchenware. Y/N took particular interest in a porcelain Iron Man figure. As if anyone would need help to remember the hero.

“Y’know, thimbles are usually meant for sewing, but my grandma just enjoys collecting them.”

Y/N turned and smiled at Brad. “Cool. It’s nice to have a collection of things. Something to be proud of.”

Brad grinned and moved beside her, examining the shelf but Y/N had the feeling he wasn’t really looking at anything on display.

“So… you and Parker have been friends pretty much since you came to Midtown, right?”

“Uh, a little longer actually. I met Peter during his internship at Stark Industries. In fact, Midtown was recommended to me by Tony Stark because he wanted me to have a friendly face to ease me into the school setting.”

Brad nodded. “That’s pretty cool. Stark Industries, wow. Peter’s pretty smart, huh?”

“Yup, smartest guy I know.”

“And you snapped together too. You guys must be really close.” Oh, he has no idea.

“Well, he’s one of my best friends, so. Yeah.”

Y/N shuffled past Brad towards the snacks near the front. Unfortunately, she was followed.

“So have you and Peter ever…”

“It’s complicated.” She grumbled, grabbing some random bags so she could pay and get away from Brad. He wasn’t a bad person or anything, but the questions about Peter were getting annoying. Why didn’t he just ask Peter?

“Oh hey, I’m gonna go find the bathroom. I’ll see you on the bus.”

Yeah. Okay.

——————————————————————————————

Y/N had tried her best to save a seat for Peter at the back of the bus again but Brad beat him to it and was looking happy for himself as always. So more questions.

“Peter might be awhile.” Brad informed her as he sat down in Peter’s seat.

“Oh… is he okay?”

“He’s great.” Well obviously. Anyone who disagreed with that was an idiot. “I think he’s really enjoying Europe. And all it has to offer.”

“Right.” What?

She really didn’t want to have to listen to Brad ask questions about Peter, a constant reminder of their rocky relationship. Instead, she risked draining her phone battery before getting to the hotel and opened Spotify to listen to music while playing Tetris against MJ. Thank god for noise canceling headphones.

The peace didn’t last long.

“Hey.”

Y/N took out one earphone and glanced at Brad when he nudged her, his phone in hand. “Do you mind pausing that for a moment? There’s something I want you to see.”

“Sure. What is it I’m meant to be looki-” The bus swerved, causing Y/N to knock her head against the window. “Ow, what the fu-” It swerved the other way this time, causing her to fall into Brad but she grabbed his hand before he was thrown off the seat. “You okay?”

“Petet! Plant your fanny in that seat and buckle up, right now.”

Y/N looked up to see what was going on. As soon as baby mountain goats were mentioned, the rest of the class were standing up in a scramble to get a good view of the windows, obstructing her view.

The commotion died down almost as quickly as it had begun, leaving Peter still standing in the middle of the aisle. Y/N narrowed her eyes at him, his blue-tinted glasses were unfamiliar to her and his hair was messed up in a way that made him look like one of the triplets from Brave. In other words, a hot mess.

Even Betty had noticed and made sure to call him out on it while Y/N went back to her phone, opening up her messages with Peter.

You: Wanna explain why you look like the floating head from Numberjacks?

Spider-Dork: MJ beat me at Tetris. I’m a sore loser :(

That just made her more suspicious, though it wasn’t improbable. Something was up and she would’ve been able to ask if Brad hadn’t taken his seat.

Speaking of, he nudged her once more, and she returned her attention to his phone where he was flicking through the photos. They weren’t all that impressive. Who photographs a bin?

“Yeah, that’s weird.” She mumbled in agreement, looking ahead to check on Peter once again.

The rest of the journey went a lot slower without Peter to joke around with or fall asleep on. She finished her game with MJ, losing by 200 points.

“Fuck.”

————————————————————————————–

Noon faded to dusk, and soon the bus rolled to a stop. Due to the narrow walkways of the city, they were still about a five-minute walk away from the hotel. Y/N didn’t mind, it was nice to have some fresh air again.

She walked ahead of Brad this time and tapped Peter’s shoulder. “Nice glasses, gift from May?”

“Uh, no. From Tony, actually.”

Y/N internally panicked, hoping she hadn’t brought up bad memories. “Sorry. They suit you, though.” Change. The. Subject. “Looks like there’s a festival or something.”

“We should check it out. Maybe without Ned, he’d want to bring the ‘love of his life’, my stomach can’t handle much more.” Peter suggested.

Y/N couldn’t fight off the heat that rose to her cheeks. “Well maybe I’ll just bring the love of my life.” She laughed before looking down and adding “Chocolate. Chocolate is the love of my life.”

Real smooth.

She inwardly rolled her eyes as her own stupidity as they followed the rest of the class into the hotel.

To call it an upgrade from the hotel in Venice was an understatement. This was paradise. It was the kind of hotel you’d expect celebrities and business moguls to stay in, not a bunch of nerdy high-school kids. Who exactly was the tour company that the school was using?

The doormen had been the first sign that this was way beyond Mr Harrington’s and Mr Dell’s yearly salary combined.

“This might just be the weirdest thing that’s happened on the trip so far. Yesterday’s incident is a close second.” She whispered to Peter. If there was anyone to help her figure out what was going on, Peter was the one.

“Maybe it’s a refund for cancelling Paris? Prague is cheaper than Paris.”

“And the owner was okay with it? Mr Harrington sucks at persuasion.” She pointed out,

Speak of the devil. It was then that Mr Harrington announced they wouldn’t be sharing rooms this time as he handed out key cards. Now that was even more unbelievable. How big must a refund like that be?

Y/N took a key and turned to Peter. “I should unpack and change out of these clothes. But maybe if there’s nothing else on the itinerary we could head out and explore? Try and find something to make up for the lack of croissants.”

“Uh, yeah! Sure. I mean- that would be cool.”

————————————————————————-

Standing Y/N up was becoming a regular thing now and Peter was more angry at Fury for that than he was for hijacking the school trip. It was only a matter of time until she would think he was pushing her away. Peter would not allow Brad the opportunity to make his move before he could tell Y/N how he felt.

“Peter!”

The young hero declined Y/N’s call and switched off his phone, slipping the device into his back pocket as he turned around.

“Yes. sir?”

“That thing is going to be here in a few hours. Are we boring you?”

“He’s not bored. He’s thinking about how you kidnapped him.” Mr Beck cut in. Peter was really starting to like that guy.

“He had obstacles. I removed them.” Fury argued. Peter wouldn’t exactly count an educational trip as an obstacle but he didn’t dare pick a fight with Nick Fury.

“They still won’t evacuate the city.”

“Idiots.” Fury muttered. For once, Peter could agree with him on something. “So what’s the plan, Parker?”

Peter straightened up. He had to take this seriously. If he made a mistake, Tony wouldn’t come to his rescue and Y/N couldn’t get involved. He wouldn’t do that to her. “I will be in the Cathedral tower keeping watch for the fire monster. When that shows up I will radio you guys, and then Mr Beck and I will-”

“My name is Mysterio.”

Peter beamed. “Mysterio and I will move in.” He clarified.

“Peter, listen to me. The best hope you have, the only hope, is to stop it here and now. No matter what the cost. Maneuver it away from civilians if you can, but most important; keep it away from metal. If it gets too big, it’ll be able to draw power from the Earth’s core. After that, there’s no way to stop it.”

Peter glanced away as he processed that very real possibility. Was he strong enough to do this? Was it too late to call Wanda?

“Hey man, my friends are here, and I can’t help but think that we’re putting them in danger-”

“You’re worried about us hurting your friends? You? Who called a drone strike on your own school tour bus? Stark gave you a multi-billion dollar AR tactical intelligence system, and the first thing you with it is try to blow your friends!” Peter looked to Agent Hill for help, but this seemed to be the one time she wouldn’t stand up to Fury.

“It’s clear to me, you’re not ready for this.”

“Hey. It’s Y/N, but you knew that. Caller ID. I’m ready to head out now. Meet you in the lobby.

“Okay it’s been fifteen minutes and the guy playing piano only seems to know depressing music. Not to rush you or anything but are you almost ready?

“So Mr Harrington wants us all downstairs in twenty minutes. I waited as long as I could, Pete. I thought we were going to try and get back to how things were, I can’t help feeling like your pushing me away. Are we giving up? Is that what it’s come to? I dunno. Maybe not all friendships can survive everything. I guess I should tell you that Brad-”

The voicemail cut off and Peter squeezed his eyes shut. If Y/N was angry, he could live with that. There was no anger in her voice, she just sounded helpless. Peter’s chest burned.

Mysterio flew up to join him on the rooftop, floating awkwardly for a few moments.

“Fury asked me to come up here and see how you were doing. He just, he felt bad about snapping at ya.”

“Really?” Maybe Ms Hill had actually defended him.

“You guys do have sarcasm on this earth, right?” Or not.

Peter chuckled.

“How’re you feeling?”

It had been a while since anyone had asked him that.

“Uh…I didn’t think that I was gonna have to save the world this Summer. I know that makes me sound like such a jerk, I just- I have this girl. I mentioned her last time, Y/N. She’s incredible, really. Way out of my league but she actually liked me back, but I guess things were going too fast. So we decided to slow down. Only, I think we ended up slowing down too fast. I had this plan and now- it’s all ruined.”

Mysterio sat down beside him. “You’re not a joke for wanting a normal life, kid. It’s a hard path. You see things, you do things, make choices. People look up to you and evil if you win a battle sometimes they die. I like you, Peter. You’re a good kid. There’s a part of me that wants me to tell you to just turn around and run away from all this, and then there’s another part of me that knows what we’re about to fight and what’s at stake, and I’m glad you’re here.”

“Me too.” Peter sighed.

“But, you’re worried about Y/N and your friends.”

“Yeah. Y/N/N- she’s brave. But I can tell that she’s also scared. All she wanted for a long time was a normal life. I just always feel like I’m putting them in danger.”

“Look, just…get ‘em inside and keep it a safe place for just a few hours. They’ll be alright.”

“It’s really nice.” Peter admitted. “Having someone to talk to about all this, you know? Y/N can’t do what most of us can and everyone knows her identity.”

Beck smiled. “Anytime. And hey, if you survive this, you’ll have all Summer to kill Brad.”

At that, Peter laughed. He nodded and grabbed his backpack with the new suit. “See you out there.”

———————————————————————–

“He just didn’t show up?” MJ questioned.

“Stood me up. Not even a text. He always has to be the last to text back. Maybe he’s just…moving on.”

“Yeah, and maybe Mr Harrington is gonna win a Nobel Prize. Ooh, or maybe we’ll actually enjoy the opera.”

Y/N glared at her friend.

“What? I thought we were listing things that are impossible. Seriously, Y/N/N, I don’t know what’s up with Loverboy but he needs you.” MJ assured her, but she was glaring at the hero across the lobby.

Y/N changed in her room once again, choosing something nice enough for the opera but also comfortable to sit in for four hours. She didn’t put that much more thought into it. Why impress someone who wasn’t returning the favour? Keeping secrets and dodging texts, that wasn’t her best friend.

She would confront him soon enough but she just needed some time to think for today, so she met MJ in the lobby and walked with her to the Opera House, keeping ahead of Peter so she wouldn’t be tempted to go running back to him. They passed a lot of partygoers headed to the carnival as they walked, which only served to further dampen her spirits.

“Can you save me a seat? I’m gonna try and get a photo of the stage from here.” Y/N requested as they entered the theatre.

Not long after MJ left, Peter replaced her.

“You look really pretty.”

“And that’s supposed to make up for the fact that my best friend is being a, as Flash put it, Dickwad?”

“What? No. No, I didn’t mean to let you down. You’re right, it was a dick move and no excuse would make up for hurting you so I won’t give one.”

“Peter it’s fine. You look pretty too. For a dickwad.”

“Peter smiled. “Thank you. For the compliment and for not staying mad me.”

They were interrupted by Ned and Betty behind them, fawning over the opera glasses. Cute, but sickening. Maybe that was what Peter and Y/N needed.

“Wanna go in on a pair?”

“No!”

She frowned. “Oh. Okay, sure. We’re already pretty close to the stage so-”

“Uh, I didn’t mean that. I- uh…if you go ahead, I’ll go grab us a pair.”

Y/N was receiving mixed signals now and quite frankly, it was pissing her off. “I’ll save you a seat next to me.”

“Awesome.”

She went to sit with MJ, looking around the mostly deserted auditorium.

“This reminds me of when I went to see David Copperfield at the movie theatre at noon, and I was the only person under 80.” MJ whispered.

“You know, it’s kinda sad that you’d sit through that and not a Star Wars marathon.” Y/N replied, earning a death glare but she elected to ignore it.

“Uh hey, Y/N/N, Peter started feeling really feverish so he’s gone back to the hotel. He’s really sorry though.” Ned interrupted.

“Of course he was.”

Brad took the seat that Y/N had saved for the second time that day. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Peter leaving. What was up with him? He had looked perfectly fine beforehand. Ever since this morning it was like he was holding back. This time, she wasn’t going to let it happen. She was Y/N Rogers, boys weren’t supposed to break her heart.

Without a second of hesitation, Y/N got up and headed out of the theatre.


	5. Now I Wanna Hold You Too

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y/N finally learns the truth but a bigger threat comes between the two as they realise Quentin Beck is a fraud.

TW - Mild PTSD in the flashback

Word Count: 4888! My longest part yet.

Peter first heard the thwip of his web shooter going off then felt the arms of his attacker pressed tightly against his neck making it hard for him to breathe.

It was late, around 1am, and May wouldn’t be back from her charity ball for at least another hour with the time it took to clean up after such events. All the lights in the apartment were out except his bedroom where he had climbed in through the open window, wanting to catch the intruder by surprise. Instead, he was the one left shocked.

“Y/N/N? Your heart rate’s going faster than an X-Wing. You’re shaking.” He gently pried the girl from where she clung to him like a sloth and held her shoulders, only now noticed the shaking was racking sobs.

“Where were you? You weren’t answering your phone and I couldn’t get through to May at work. Happy said you should be here but you weren’t. You weren’t here, Peter.” She wept.

“I was at Ned’s! My phone died so he let me charge it but then we went to play video games in his room. Y/N/N, I told you this morning.”

Y/N wiped her eyes and sat down when the realisation hit her. He’d told her exactly where he was going and that he wasn’t sure how long he’d be. How could she forget?

“Y/N…it’s okay. I’m not going anywhere.”

She nodded, taking a few shaky breaths. “I thought something had happened. I had this dream-”

“It was just a dream. I’m fine. I’ve stopped my patrols, I spend most of my time here or at school. I’m not in danger.”

He then noticed that there were dark circles under her puffy eyes and tilted her chin up, his thumb brushed against her jaw. “How much sleep are you getting?”

“Uh I dunno, eight hours?”

“A night?”

“In the past three days. I’ve been training, going through Nat’s old routines.”

“Natasha’s routines never included overexertion, you need to take breaks to-”

“Taking breaks doesn’t keep me alive, Peter! It feels like I’m drowning in earth and every time I close my eyes I see him. I see Thanos.”

Peter knew that feeling all too well. He remained quiet as he sat on the bed next to his best friend. She’d been taking care of him this whole time, he hadn’t even thought to check that she wasn’t suffering. “You know, the first few nights after everything I kept waking up thinking I was back on Titan. I even tried calling Tony a few times. It took May half an hour to get me calm. I know it’s hard to feel safe again.”

Y/N didn’t speak. Peter already knew she felt better as her heart rate slowed down and eventually her head fell against his shoulder, eyes dry. “Can I fall asleep with you?”

Y/N sat on the bed of her hotel room, satin sheets wrinkled beneath her as she studied the strange piece of technology in her hands. She had let her guard down; she hadn’t been prepared for a fight despite the Venice incident. She had acted like a fool. Now all she had to show for it was this piece of junk she’d picked up from the town square after the attack. She had no clue what it was, but it looked advanced as hell. It wasn’t Stark technology, though it appeared fairly similar.

Usually, she’d ask Peter, but there was something going on with him, and now she knew why. She should have worked it out sooner, he’d been acting strange pretty much since Venice and, while she’d had her suspicions from day one, she hadn’t asked because she’d expected him to tell her. So why hadn’t he? They were supposed to have each other’s backs. That was how it had always been.

It wasn’t like that now. Now was the furthest from Peter that Y/N had ever felt.

Hearing voices outside, she shoved the tech into her bag as MJ texted her, requesting that she tell Peter and Ned to keep it down. She opened the door, looking out into the hallway and subtly checked Peter over for anything unusual. Nothing to report, except that he looked really good in that shirt.

“Where’d you run off to, Parker? You weren’t there to help fend off Brad.” Her eyes followed Ned’s bathrobe-clad form retreating into Betty’s room. She wasn’t going to question that, she just hoped they knew to be safe.

“Oh. Um, I got lost on the way back here. Found a pretty cool bar, they gave me free lemonade. S-sorry about Brad.”

“Right, Ned mentioned you weren’t feeling too good. We were worried about you. Well, I was. Kinda funny how fast it all came on, right? Shame about Paris.” She commented, wondering if she could evoke some kind of reaction from him to expose his lies.

“Oh, yeah. I’m all good now, must’ve just been the…travelling. But Paris would have been fun. Sorry we never got round to eating croissants.” Peter smiled nervously as he hoisted his backpack higher onto his shoulder. She couldn’t tell if it was a nervous reflex or he was just adjusting it.

“Don’t apologise for things out of your control, Peter. Maybe another time.” She heard Flash finishing his live-stream next door and began backing into her room. No point pissing anyone else off. “Okay, well, goodnight. Maybe tomorrow we can sit on the plane together?” She asked hopefully. She could talk to him then, without worrying about him running away or Brad getting involved.

“Yeah, that sounds nice. Night, Y/N.” Peter said, so soft that she barely heard it as she closed the door.

Why couldn’t she just spit it out? Why couldn’t she just say Peter, I love you and I’m done waiting for the right time because superheroes don’t have that kind of luxury?

She glanced over to the suitcase on the bed and sighed. Prague had been so beautiful and the few hours they’d spent in the city hadn’t been enough to fully embrace it. She then looked to her backpack and realised she’d forgotten to tell Peter about what she’d found. She may be mad at him, but she knew her grudges were no excuse if it was something important that Shield needed to know about in order to help explain the attacks.

She threw open the door, prepared to knock on every other one until she found Peter’s room. He was already there. Had he even moved?

“I’m not ready for this trip to be over yet. So, I was wondering if maybe you’d like to do something not on the itinerary?” She asked hopefully. This would be a better chance to confront him about his secrets and finally get him alone.

“Yes! I mean- sure! I’d love to. What did you have in mind?” He asked sheepishly.

“Well, we only got here this afternoon so I don’t really know the city all that well. Why don’t we see where the night takes us?”

Peter beamed, lighting up the entire hallway around him. “Awesome. I just need to change, meet you downstairs in ten minutes?”

“I’ll be there in five.”

____

Y/N had really only given herself enough time to grab Natasha’s jacket to keep warm, shove the projector into her backpack and shove about three mints into her mouth to make sure she didn’t have dinner breath before she had to head downstairs to meet Peter in the hotel lobby.

Already, the fight against the fire elemental was being broadcasted on the news channel. There were clear shots of the ‘Night Monkey’ and she rolled her eyes, did Peter really think he could keep this a secret from her now? Did he think she was that clueless? That would hurt more than the secrecy itself. Did he not think she could help?

Ned had also made it onto the news which she supposed he would be happy about, even if it was because he’d been in danger.

“Hey.”

Y/N turned to see Peter’s awkward smile, and she knew that staying mad was going to be hard. She just had to wait for the right time.

“So, what do you want to do?” Peter asked.

Well first, why don’t you stop lying to my face? “It’s really pretty at night. Maybe we could just wander around?”

“Sounds good, let’s go.” Peter held open the door for her to walk through and they stepped into the night air.

“This is nice, just walking around the city.” She spoke up as they reached the bridge. It was pretty much empty. Then again, it was late and there had been a monster in the city not that long ago. People were probably locked up in their homes, worried about what was happening.

Her fingers brushed against Peter’s and she pulled them away rather than taking his hand, fingers toying with the sleeves of her jacket.

“Yeah, I’m glad we’re doing this. Getting to see the city a little bit before we have to go home. I’m really glad we were at the opera tonight. I just, I wouldn’t want you getting hurt. It’s kinda hard not to worry sometimes.”

“I get it, I worry about you too.” Y/N confessed as she stared ahead. “You must have narrowly missed the attack right? Maybe getting lost was a good thing.”

“Yeah, maybe.” He suddenly stopped and whirled round to face her. “Hey, listen. There’s this thing I’ve been wanting to talk to you about for a while now and I was gonna wait for Paris but it’s our last night in Europe and I had this plan that I was gonna tell you- I’m just gonna say it. Y/N/N, I’m-”

“Going behind my back to work with Nick Fury, partner up with Mysterio and take down whatever those things are that keep attacking us? Yeah, I know.”

Peter’s eyes widened. “No!” He denied childishly. “I’m not working with Fury.”

“Peter, it’s obvious. I should have seen it sooner if anything. I mean, ditching our plans? Twice?”

“I already apologised for that!”

“Okay, what about running out of the opera theatre before the attack yet being the last to return?”

“I was sick! I get motion sickness since the space incident. And google maps isn’t exactly reliable.”

“You know Susan Yang thought you were male escort? I was so mad at you I almost encouraged it but then I felt bad.”

“What?! No, of course I’m not a male escort. I thought I’d deleted that picture from Brad’s phone.”

“What picture? Never mind, I don’t care that you’re working with Fury. I just wanna know why you lied.”

Peter sighed and Y/N knew she had him cornered. He couldn’t lie to her. “I didn’t want to, okay? I tried dodging his calls but then he came into my room and shot Ned with a tranquilizer-”

“Fury shot Ned?”

“Yeah, he’s fine though. He’s keeping the dart as a souvenir. It’s just- I promised you that I would lay low and you were so excited for this vacation. You didn’t want me getting hurt anf I thought that if I kept you out of it then you would be safe too and I could just do what Fury wanted quietly.” The teen confessed, staring down at his shoes.

After that, Y/N’s anger dissipated quickly.

“Peter, you dickwad. Yeah I wanted you to take a break from patrols but why would I be against you saving the world? I’m one of the idiots living here! I thought maybe you didn’t trust me anymore. I could have helped. And since when does Fury ever do anything quietly?”

Peter glanced up with those soft brown eyes and met her smile with one of his own. “You’re right, lying was stupid. I just didn’t want to let you down.”

Y/N’s gaze softened and she let out a sigh. “I know, but you could never. Maybe I was wrong to ask you to take a break. I need Peter Parker, but the world needs Spider-Man.” She pursed her lips and reached for her backpack. “I also found this. I wanted to know what was going on to I followed you out of the opera house. Any idea what it is?”

She handed the piece of tech over to Peter, wondering if maybe he might have seen something similar in Stark’s lab. The minuted it touched his fingers it sprang to life. Peter dropped the device as Y/N grabbed his hand.

“What the-”

“Hell was that?” Y/N finished, hoping she hadn’t been carrying around a weapon this whole time.

Peter held out a hand, signaling Y/N to stay where she was while he approached the flashing tech, picking it up from the cobblestones.

“What is it? Some kind of projector?”

“Yeah, but it’s really advanced.”

“It looked so real.”

“Yeah, really real.”

She glanced at Peter, wondering what exactly he was thinking. She didn’t like the worry she saw etched on his face. “Peter, does that mean that-”

“The elementals are fake? That doesn’t make any sense. We were there, right? And Fury clearly saw them as a threat if he hijacked our trip to make me help stop them. There was fire and destruction and- who would do something like that?”

Right on cue, the projector switched itself on again and Peter turned round as the two of them watched the lightning and smoke resembling a monster like the ones they’d seen before. It wasn’t just the elementals that were fake either.

“Mysterio.” She realised. “Peter?”

The brunette turned back with wide eyes and gulped. “I’ve really messed up.”

“Pete, what’s going on? I thought you said you were with Mysterio?”

“I was! At least, I thought he was on our side. Fury’s the one who found him and now we’ve really gotta get back.” Peter shoved the projector back into Juliette’s backpack and grabbed her hand.

“I can’t believe you were keeping this from me!” Y/N huffed as they took off back towards the hotel.

____

They burst into Peter’s room and Y/N watched as Peter pulled all the curtains shut.

“I can’t believe I gave Beck those glasses, how could I have been that stupid? He’s probably spying on me right now or sending a drone to kill me. I even told him about you!”

“You had access to killer drones?” Peter knew how to defend himself, he could take this guy down. But giving Peter a deadly weapon? That sounded like a disaster waiting to happen.

“Yeah, I didn’t really want them, especially after I almost killed Brad.”

Disaster confirmed. “You almost killed Brad?!” She asked incredulously while Peter shut down his laptop. “What did he do to you?”

“Not important right now, Y/N/N. Look, I have to call Mr Fury and tell him that Mr Beck’s a fraud but he’s probably tapping both our phones.”

“Okay, so what are we gonna do?”

Peter thought for a moment then rushed to his bed, pulling out a duffel bed. “I need my suit and I have to go to Berlin and talk to Mr Fury in person.”

“That’s great and all but I didn’t think I’d have to pack mine.”

“I need you here, Y/N/N. Please? You have to keep the other’s safe, try and contact Happy if you can.”

“I want to come with! I can help.”

“I know but Mysterio already knows too much and I’m not losing you. Sometimes it’s braver not to fight, remember when you told me that?”

Y/N scowled but remained silent as she watched Peter pulled out the ‘Night Monkey’ suit and struggle to pull his shirt off. He was right.

He turned and glanced at her awkwardly as his hands hovered over his belt buckle.

“Y/N/N.”

“Right, sorry.” She turned her back on him, instead listening to his pants and heavy breaths as he changed into the suit. She honestly thought this was a little unnecessary, and she felt the temptation to see just how much of Peter’s Avenger-training was paying off but she noticed a shape in the doorway and smiled at Ned.

“Uh, you’re costume looks great! For the… costume party at the prince’s castle.”

Y/N arched a brow as Peter finished zipping up his suit and shook her head. “It’s okay, she knows now. I told her.”

“He didn’t tell me, I figured it out because he sucks at subtlety. And if there was a costume party, I would be offended that you guys didn’t invite me.”

Ned calmed down considerably and nodded. “Oh, that’s cool. You know, I didn’t actually want to lie to you or anything but- bro code and all.”

“You’re good, Ned. You were just a victim of Peter’s dumbass plan.”

Peter glared at the girl who shrugged in retaliation. He should have known better than to keep her out of this. Instead of arguing, he shook his head and turned back to Ned.

“Look, Mysterio is a fraud.” Peter explained as clearly as possible.

“But he saved me and Betty’s lives.”

“Betty and I.” Y/N corrected under her breath, luckily neither of the boys heard or they just knew to ignore her. “He’s been faking the whole thing with illusion tech. And genius over here decided to give him some super powerful Stark technology so he could probably take over the world if he wanted to.”

“First off, it’s a hologram projector. Second, I was a victim of manipulation.”

“Whoa, that’s crazy.”

“Yeah.” She agreed.

“So, you guys have been working the case together? Like old times? Are you Peter’s girl in the chair?”

Y/N shrugged. “I’m trying to help, but Peter isn’t letting me.”

Another glare from the boy. “Look, Ned, I need you to call May. Get her to call Mr. Harrington to say she wanted me to stay with family in Berlin until this all blows over, okay?”

“Got it. Easy.” Ned confirmed.

Y/N arched a brow once more, her usual expression around the two boys. “Wow, you two lie with such ease. What else are you keeping from me?”

“Uh, nothing!” Ned chuckled awkwardly. “Peter has no secret plan whatsoever. Nada.”

She glanced at Peter who was already making his way to the window. “I gotta go.”

“Wait, the projector!” She pulled it out of her bag and handed it over. “Please come back alive. I still need Peter Parker.”

Peter gave her a soft smile and nodded, then pulled something off his suit. “Here, take this. It’s a prototype web shooter I was working on a while back. Keep the others safe, let me know when you get to the airport. Be careful, Mysterio could still be in the city. I’ll be back before you know it.”

He pulled down the goggles attached to his suit then lept out of the window, swinging off into the dawn., leaving Y/N watching longingly from where she stood. She knew he could hold his own in a fight and he had his abilities to help him, but something just didn’t feel right. Maybe it was because they usually thought together, or because it felt like Peter was still holding something back. Whatever it was, it had to wait. She had her orders, she needed to make sure everybody got home safe and sound.

“So, now you know. For the record, I din’t think keeping you out of it was such a good idea. We just wanted to protect you.” Ned explained. It was obvious that he felt more than a little guilty so Y/N just shook her head and squeezed his shoulder.

“I’m not mad. Anymore. But now we have to protect Peter. You know Happy Hogan, right?”

____

“I’ve got eyes on the target.” Y/N announced, sighing in relief.

She had done her job of getting the class out of the city, they’d be flying back to New York from London instead. She had done her part, so as soon as Happy had called to inform her that Peter was stranded in Broek op Langedijk, she knew this was her chance to finally be of use. All that hard work in the compound gym would finally pay off.

The quinjet landed in the middle of the field and Y/N followed Happy down the ramp, needing to see Peter with her own eyes. Worry settled in her stomach as she spotted Peter limping towards them, clad in a luminous orange jersey among the tulips.

“Peter, are you okay?” Happy asked.

“Peter, what the hell happened to you?” She broke into slight jog, ready to throw her arms around him until he suddenly stopped as he held out his arm.

“Stop! Tell me something only you would know!”

Y/N frowned, hurt etched on her face as she looked Peter over. She wasn’t particularly hurt because of his words, she was hurting for him. For the fear in his eyes as he looked at the two people he was supposed to trust the most. The people who loved him and would never dream of causing him harm.

She shook her head, racking around her brain for something to say. “Uh, Peter, i don’t- oh, you have a secret collection of Avengers merchandise!” She yelled out while Happy rambled something about him renting an adult movie, only to be suddenly cut off by Peter.

“Okay, okay! Fine, it’s you. It’s you. Stop.”

Peter hobbled forward and She approached to catch him in her arms. He must have seen the hurt on her face because he didn’t think when he kissed the side of her head and nuzzled his face into her shoulder.

“It’s so good to see you.” He whispered against her clothing.

She returned the hug as gently as she could and helped him up the ramp. “Happy can stitch you up. What happened, Pete?” She asked softly. This was worse than before, this was almost like the snap. She could see the emotional injury written all over his face.

“I messed up. Again. That’s what happened.” He confessed, avoiding her concerned looks and glaring at the ground instead.”

Happy directed him into a seat while Y/N helped him out of the football shirt. She tried her best to forget about how good he looked even in orange, but his looked even better in the tight black shirt.

“Hands up.” She whispered, tugging the rest of the material over his head. He was exhausted, whatever had happened had clearly taken it’s toll.

She moved to sit in front of Peter while Happy stood behind him with a first aid kit. “The cuts are pretty bad. This’ll hurt a little so don’t move too much. Now, what happened?” He asked as he got the needle and thread ready.

Peter was clearly uncomfortable and looked up at Y/N. She gave him an encouraging smile.

“It was Beck. He tricked me again, I told him about the class knowing. He- he made me see things. I thought he’d hurt Y/N. I saw Tony.”

Y/N could have sworn she’d heard her own heart breaking, and she handed Peter a glass of water as Happy pulled the back of his shirt down.

“Okay, hold still. There we go.”

She took notice of Peter’s clenched jaw. She wandered wether it was from the pain or if he was still angry with himself for letting Beck get away. “Pete-”

“Ouch.” He winced and grabbed onto her hand tightly.

“I thought you had super strength?”

“Still hurts.” He grumbled like a child as he reluctantly let go of Y/N and played with the glass instead. He’d rather shatter that than the bones of her hand. He winced again. “Happy, come on.”

“All right, relax.” The poor guy was doing his best but he wasn’t a doctor. Luckily he had experience since his best friend had liked to get himself into stupid scraps over nothing. “Just a few more. There we go.” He repeated gently

“Oh my god, Happy!”

Y/N reached for his hand. “Peter relax.” She pleaded, flinching as the brunette pulled his hand away and slammed his hand on the table before standing up,

“Don’t tell me to relax, Y/N/N. How can I relax when I messed up so bad?” He snapped. He’d never so much as raised his voice at her before and she wasn’t quite sure how to handle it.

“I trusted Beck. Right? I thought he was my friend so I gave him the only thing Mr. Stark left behind for me, and now he’s gonna kill all our friends and half of Europe. So please, Jas, do not tell me to relax.” Peter continued as he sat down in the chair across the aisle.

Happy glanced at Y/N as she stared into the abandoned glass of water and took his glasses off with a sigh. “And you think snapping at the girl who has done nothing but try to help will fix things?”

Peter shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry, Y/N/N. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t shout. I’m really glad your okay.” He glanced over at her with tears in his eyes. He wasn’t angry with her, he was just a broken man.

Y/N knelt down in front of him, her own eyes watery and threatening to spill her sorrows. “You can’t blame yourself, Pete. You did your best, but we’re still just high school teenagers.”

“I just really miss him.” The broken boy murmured.

“Yeah, I miss him too.” Happy spoke up.

Peter glanced at him then down at his hands, moving to grasp onto Y/N’s fingers. “Everywhere I go… I see his face. And, the whole world is asking who’s gonna be the next Iron Man and-” He sniffled and moved one hand to tug at his hair as the other tightened its grip on Y/N’s hand. “I don’t know if that’s me, Happy. I’m not the next Iron Man.”

“You’re not Iron Man. You’re never gonna be Iron Man.” Happy confirmed with a shake of his head, and Y/N turned her head to glare at the man as Peter lowered his gaze.

“Nobody could live up to Tony. Not even Tony. Tony was my best friend, and he was a mess.” Peter looked up in surprise. He’d only really ever seen the best of Tony Stark. “He second guessed everything he did. He was all over the place. The one thing that didn’t second guess was picking you. I don’t think Tony would have done what he did if he didn’t know that you were gonna be here after he was gone.”

Y/N smiled gently and looked up at Peter. He was a broken boy, but he wasn’t beyond repair. “He loved you, Peter.” She whispered.

“Now,” Happy started and this time he addressed both teenagers. “Your friends are in trouble, you’re all alone, your tech is missing. What are you gonna do about it?”

Peter glanced down at Y/N who gave him a knowing look and nodded resolutely. She was by his side until the end.   
“We’re gonna kick his ass.” He concluded and she helped him to his feet.

“Okay, love the team effort. But I lean, right now. Specifically, what are we gonna do? Because we’ve been hovering over a tulip field for the last 15 minutes and I’m not up to date on the laws around here.”

“Right, um… we can’t call out friends because he’s tracking their phones too. Uh, give me your phone.”

“My cell phone?”

“Yeah.”

Happy pulled it out of his inside pocket and handed it over. “Okay. Here.”

“What’s your password?”

“Password.”

“No, what is your password?” Peter specified.

“Password, spelled out.”

Y/N looked over and furrowed her brows. “You’re the head of security and your password is password?”

“Yeah. I don’t feel good about it either.”

Peter punched it in and logged into Instagram to find Flash’s fan page. He had once asked Y/N if she wanted to be co-president of the Spider-Man fan Club but she’d turned the offer down. She was either the solo president or nothing at all.

“They’re in London.” Peter announced.

“London, okay.” Happy nodded and scrambled out of his seat.

“Yeah, we need suits!” Peter reminded.

Happy turned back to the kids with a grin.

“Suits? Y/N, you have something from your dad in that overhead. Peter…” He turned and pressed a button to open the hidden compartment at the back of the jet.

Peter grinned and rushed into the lab. “Okay, um…bring up everything you have on Spider-Man.”

Y/N and Peter both watched proudly as he started experimenting with the controls. For the first time since the snap, he looked comfortable and in his element.

“What?” Peter asked as he turned to see them both staring.

“Nothing. You take care of the suit. Y/N, go change and I’ll take care of the music.”

Y/N disappeared into the bathroom and soon the bass began to fill the room as she unzipped the clothing bag she’d pulled from the overhead, revealing a spandex suit in her father’s colours.

“Oh I love Led Zepplin!”

“Peter you idiot, it’s Foo Fighters!” She called out.

Happy ran a hand over his face and shook his head, whispering “Sorry, Tony.” under his breath.


	6. Come What May

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quentin Beck targets London. Peter now only has hours to save Europe and tell Y/N how he feels.

Come What May

Summary: Quentin Beck sets his sights on London as the Europe trip comes to an end. Peter only has a few hours to save Europe and tell Y/N how he feels in the finale of One More Try.

Word Count: 3324

“Looks like the ‘company’ set up a city tour for the class. They won’t be heading to the airport until after lunch. Beck’s definitely not taking any risks. Nothing from Shield either, we’re on our own.” Y/N informed the two as she sat in the co-pilot chair beside Happy, who was working on getting an encrypted message to Nick Fury.

“Okay, I'll get you there. I’ll go see if Peter’s ready.” Happy rose up and headed out of the cockpit, leaving Y/N to watch as they approached the coast of Dorset. They were close, but not close enough. She couldn’t bear to think about the consequences if they didn’t make it on time. They had to get to Beck and retrieve E.D.I.T.H. There wasn’t any room for mistakes.

She barely heard the conversation between Happy and Peter and looked over to Happy, his hand in his pocket, as he rejoined her.

“Is he okay?” She asked. It seemed cruel to ask Peter to go back and fight after the trauma he had been through, but Y/N didn’t want to do it without him. They were a team.

“He’s a tough kid. You both are. Just remember, this only works if you two trust one another. Keep your comms on you at all times. Peter’s gonna need you if the illusions become too much so keep checking in on him.” He must have noticed the faraway look in her eyes as he clasped his hand on her shoulder.

“Happy, if something happens can you tell Peter-”

“Don’t worry. The Peter Tingle will keep him safe. Whatever needs to be said, you’ll get the chance to say it.”

Y/N nodded then scrunched her nose. “I’m sorry, his what?”

Poor Peter was stuck on the side of the quinjet, he would be able to get to Beck quicker.

“Alright, comms check. Can you hear us, kid?”

“Yeah I can, it’s just a little loud out here. I’ll be fine on the ground.”

“Nice suit.” Y/N noted.

“Thanks! Yours too. You look more comfortable.”

“Whoa, are you kids sure that’s not real?”

Y/N had barely realised they’d made it to London and frowned at the destruction already taking place. At least they weren’t too late.

“Yeah, it’s just 100 times bigger than I expected.” She murmured, but that meant it would be easier for Peter to find a way in undetected.

“Still the play?” Happy asked.

“Uh-huh. I trust Y/N’s plan. We need to get high enough so Beck doesn’t see me coming.”

“Copy. Stay sticky.” Happy called out as he ascended higher.

“Hey, Happy?” Peter asked as he got into position.

“Yeah, what is it kid?”

“We need to have a serious conversation about you and my aunt!”

Y/N watched with baited breath as he dropped into the smoke and glanced at Happy.

“I’m not having that conversation with you. That’s a Peter and you thing, I’m staying out of it.”

Happy nodded and gulped then glanced over to her. “So what’s the plan?”

She looked over in confusion, wasn’t it his job to know what to do next?

“Come on, I’ve been calling you kid far too long. You’re a Rogers and this whole thing was your idea. It’s about time you starting giving the orders, don’t you think?”

She broke into a grin and nodded, turning back to scan the nearby area. “There! It’s Ned and MJ. We’ll get them to safety until Peter let’s us know his position. I’m gonna be on standby in case he needs help.”

“You’ve got it, Rogers.”

Y/N lept out of her seat and grabbed Peter’s web shooter from her backpack.

“Peter, you in?

The voice that came through her earpiece sounded far away and slightly broken up but she managed to catch on to some of the words. “Yeah…scary but awesome!”

She looked at Happy and nodded. “Let’s bring her down, the people will move for us.”

“I see them. The illusion’s down though.”

“What?” Y/N leaned over the seat and looked out of the window. There were hundreds, more likely thousands, of drones hovering in the air. “No, Beck wouldn’t risk everything like that. He must have seen Peter. We need to get down, now.”

She pulled her braid over her shoulder and went to stand by the ramp so that when it opened up, she could jump out. “Easy, Happy!”

“I’m trying.”

They touched down heavily, but safely, and Y/N opened the door as she rushed out with Happy on her heels. She ran against the crowd towards the Tower of London, the action was going down by Tower Bridge, the class must have been around there when they’d left the bus.

Hey eyes scanned the crowds as she ran and sighed in relief. “Ned!”

“Y/N!”

They rushed forward and embraced each other quickly. As soon as she pulled away, Flash’s phone was shoved in her face.

“Holy shit! Cadet America has come to save me!” He told his fan. Singular.

“What? No, it’s just Y/N. We’ve gotta get you guys out of here. Get on the jet!”

“Who are you?” MJ asked as she looked at Happy.

“I’m with Spider-Man.”

“Whoa, you work for Spider-Man? Is it true he and Y/N broke up?”

“No, I work with Spider-Man, not for Spider-Man. Why does everyone-”

“Happy, jet!”

They all turned as the missile locked onto the jet and the whole thing went up in flames.

“Plan B, everyone into the tower!” Y/N ordered.

“Y/N/N, are you okay?” Peter’s voice came through. He was alive and even in the midst of running from missiles, that brought some comfort.

She closed her hand around her ear to hear better, taking up the rear of the group so she could make sure nobody fell behind. “We’re okay, just some mild setbacks. Get to Beck.”

She could do this. There was no need for Peter to worry. They didn’t want each other getting hurt but they trusted one another when it came to doing their jobs. Y/N had trained enough with Natasha, Wanda and various agents of Shield to be able to keep herself alive. She had to trust her plan and keep her friends safe. That’s what Captain America would do.

“Into the crown jewels vault!” Happy instructed as they rounded the corner and headed into the Tower.

That was perfect, they’d be less visible, and it was almost empty now so Y/N could easily slip away to help Peter if she had to. The palace guards were too busy shooting at the drones to care about them running past.

“Into the vault. The walls are eight feet thick. Go, go!”

Happy stepped aside to let their friends go first and glanced at Y/N. “You good?”

“Of course. I could do this in my sleep. Duck.” A few drones had followed them in and began shooting, as Happy ducked she activated Peter’s web shooter to take one out. The web slammed it into the wall, thick enough to hold it in place.

“I’ve gotta get him to make me one of these.” She spoke and followed the others, ducking out of the fire. “Take cover!”

She hid behind a display case and tried to catch her breath, looking around for some kind of weapon. She spotted a mace clasped in the hand of a suit of armour and snatched it up. There was still one drone left and she was determined not to let anybody get so much as a scratch. She looked over at Betty, gesturing to one of the other suits of armour.

The blonde didn’t need telling twice, she knocked it over and when the drone was busy blasting it to pieces, Y/N came out from behind and brought the mace down on it.

“Go!” She followed them into the vault and helped pull at the doors as Happy tried to take out one of the drones with an old-fashioned shield.

“How does Cap do that?”

“Vibranium is lighter.” She pressed her body against one door while Happy helped with the other one.

The doors were thick, but the drones were more modern and had already begun cutting through the metal.

“Y/N/N? Happy? Say something to let me know that you’re alive.”

“We’re here! The drones keep coming, we need you to get control of E.D.I.T.H. I bought us some time but not much.”

“I’m trying to get to Beck, but I can’t shake these drones either!”

“Keep trying! I’ll keep the others safe.”

“Are we gonna die?” Ned asked as they watched the laser cutting through the door.

“Nobody dies on my watch.” Happy assured him, though he didn’t sound entirely convinced.

“I wasted my life playing videogames and we’re gonna die!” Ned cried out.

“I have a fake ID, and I’ve never even used it.” Betty joined in.

“I post stupid videos daily for people to like me!”

Y/N glanced at Flash, feeling sorry for him in that moment. “Hey, if it wasn’t for those videos, Spider-Man and I wouldn’t have found you guys.”

“Spider-Man? Sder-Man? pider-Man follows me? I saved us guys!”

She rolled her eyes but let him have his moment, she had more pressing things to worry about.

“If you saved us then why are we about to die?!” MJ argued.

“MJ, stop it? Spider-Man’s got this! And yeah, Eugene, he and I broke up! Cos I don’t want Spider-Man, I want Peter! I thought everything would be different after the snap but it’s not and instead I just really messed up!”

“I’m in love with Spider-Man’s aunt.” Happy confessed and Y/N turned to look at him with wide eyes. “We’re sharing, right?”

Y/N clutched the mace in her hands and waited, ready to take down the drones if they got in. The doors opened and she was about to swing when suddenly the drones turned and flew off in the opposite direction.

“Give me the spear.”

“That’s a halberd.” Ned and Y/N corrected at the same time. Y/N cringed, realising she was now a fully converted dork.

She waited a moment to make sure the drones were definitely gone and sighed in relief.

“I need to find him.” She told Happy, knowing he’d need no further explanation.

“Of course, just take this.” He stepped forward and pressed something into her hand. “Take it with. It’s from him.”

Y/N nodded and ran out of the vault to find Peter.

____

Y/N could see Peter limping across the bridge, unmasked and clearly bruised up.

“Peter!” She dropped the mace nearby and broke into a light jog, throwing her arms around his neck once they met in the middle.

“Y/N/N, hey.” He slid his arms around her waist

“Are you okay?” She asked, hoping they hadn’t just made his previous injuries worse.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine? Is everybody else okay?”

“Yeah, everyone’s okay. Happy’s probably getting them back to the rest of the class.

“What happened?”

“There was just the drones. We hid in the crown jewels vault. I think the others were a little shaken but nobody got hurt. Did you get him?” She asked as she reluctantly pulled away from his embrace.

Peter glanced away but nodded. “Yeah.”

Y/N nodded too, then gestured rather lamely at the mace. “Well, I brought that. Nice web shooters by the way.” She smiled and fiddled with her sleeve before shoving her hands in her pockets, digging out the lint.

“Thanks.” Peter chuckled.

“Yeah. So, how exactly are we gonna explain you flying home with us when you were supposed to be with family in Berlin?” She asked.

“Uh…guess I’ll come up with something. Maybe I’ll get Fury to come up with an excuse, payback for him ruining our school trip.”

Y/N laughed and nodded. “Whatever excuse you come up with, I’ve got your back. Until the end, right?”

Peter smiled softly. “Until the end. Maybe those are our words.”

People were beginning to come out of hiding and Peter needed to go change before somebody spotted him and worked out his identity.

“Go clean up, I’ll stall the class.”

“Yeah, thanks. Uh, see ya.”

“Bye.”

Y/N watched him turn away then did the same and disappeared between the cars. Neither one of them noticed the broken yellow carnation pendant on the ground between their retreating forms.

____

With a bunch of tourists rushing home after the attack, Mr Harrington hadn’t been able to book an earlier flight for the class and Y/N managed to convince him to let them get lunch, giving Peter enough time to finish his mission, clean up and rejoin them.

Y/Ns clothes had been destroyed in the quinjet, but luckily Fury had agreed to pay for a short shopping spree to get new clothes as her luggage was still at the airport, waiting for their next flight. It was still a long flight to New York so she opted for comfy pants and a long sleeved shirt. Now, she stood with Ned by the shops after going through security, recounting everything that had happened since Happy had picked her up to retrieve Peter from the Netherlands.

“-And then the back of the jet just opened up and there were all these holograms and stuff. I’ve never seen Peter so awestruck, and he’s joined the Avengers for movie night.” She was telling him, trying to keep her voice down so nobody else would catch on. Luckily, Brad seemed to be leaving her alone now which came as a relief because she wasn’t sure how many Peter-related questions she could take. Especially if someone told him about her confession in the vault.

“Wait! I’m here! Mr Harrington, I’m here.”

They turned and beamed at Peter, who stood with his suitcase in hand. He was panting a little but with his stamina; it was hard to tell that he’d probably run all the way from the middle of the city.

After receiving a lecture from Mr Harrington and Mr Dell about leaving the trip without much warning, Peter walked over to his friends and smiled back as he caught Y/N’s gaze and Ned took that as his cue to slip away, mumbling something about talking to Betty.

“Some trip, huh.”

Y/N nodded. “Not exactly the relaxing vacation I expected, but I got to see and do some pretty cool things.” She grinned but her smile faltered a little. “Pete, Happy tried to give me something from you. The necklace? I’m so sorry, I looked everywhere but it must have fallen out of my pocket. I can totally pay you back if you-”

Peter shook his head. “No. No, it’s okay Y/N/N. Really. It was all part of this plan, this stupid plan that I had where I was gonna tell you how I feel but then Fury hijacked our trip and Brad kept flirting with you-”

“Wait, Brad was flirting with me? I thought he was into you!”

Peter lifted a brow with an amused smile tugging at his lips. “What made you think that?”

“He kept asking me about you and our relationship with one another, I thought he was trying to make sure you were definitely single.”

The two laughed, at both how Y/N could have been so oblivious to Brad’s flirting and just the relief that all their problems had finally been resolved. They were safe and closer than ever before. It felt just like old times.

Peter was the first to stop laughing, just gazing at her with those pretty brown eyes of his. “Y/N/N, I love you. And I’m not sure when it happened, but somewhere between when I first laid eyes on you in Berlin and when you’d come over to mine after school to let Ned and I force you into watching Star Wars. And I know that somewhere along the way, you fell in love with me too. I hope that you still do, cos otherwise this is definitely gonna be a little awkward.” He chuckled nervously and Y/N joined in, despite the tears fighting to spill.

“What I’m trying to get at is that I know you've been waiting for something to change. For me to change my mind and get bored with you. But that’s not going to happen, I am completely and hopelessly in love with every bit of you, even when you call me Dickwad or you don’t understand my dorky references. That’s not going to change anytime soon. I’m with you until the end, Y/N Rogers. I’m with you forever and always, I’m with you- okay, I’m rambling now. Did you… maybe wanna say something?”

Y/N sniffled a little and broke into a smile. “Oh, good. I was waiting for you to shut up, so now I can do this.”

She surged forward, meeting Peter’s lips with her own. It wasn’t gentle or even that graceful. It was sloppy and desperate and so full of love as she thread her fingers through his curls and he trapped her in his arms. It was a dying flame suddenly rising from the ashes. It was two butterflies soaring in harmony.

It was two teenagers in love.

It was long awaited and the best feeling Y/N had ever experienced. Until Peter’s lips stopped moving altogether. She opened one eye to see him looking to the side and pulled away with a frown. Had he not just experienced what she had? She turned her head and eyed the jewellery display in the store window, one yellow carnation necklace standing out amongst the rest.

“Holy shit, that guy in Venice ripped me off!” Peter complained.

She snorted and rolled her eyes, tugging him back to her lips but Peter was the one to pull away this time.

“Where are you going?” She whined.

“I’m getting you that necklace!”

(One Year Later)

“Peter!”

Y/N huffed and set her book aside, grabbing the corner of the towel she was sitting on to dry away the water droplets on her legs, sending a glare towards her boyfriend who returned the look with a proud smirk as he pushed himself out of the pulled, shaking his hair dry like a dog.

“I’m not sorry. You were far too relaxed, and you looked hot. In more ways than one.”

When Peter wasn’t being an awkward dork, he was a cocky little shit instead.

Y/N wasn’t impressed.

“And here I was, thinking you loved me.” She sighed dramatically.

Peter’s eyes and smile softened as he walked over, quickly drying himself off then moving to kneel between her legs on the sun chair.

“I love every part of you. Your eyes, your smile, your newfound dorkiness, even your beautiful wet, stringy hair.” He grinned, brushing the mop of chlorine-soaked hair out of her face. “I love my girlfriend more than I love Star Wars.”

“I know.” She grinned and pulled Peter’s mouth down to hers. The past year had been one happy blur. They’d finally graduated from Midtown but their universities were close to one another and they had been fighting crime together non-stop. So they definitely deserved this vacation. Everything was perfect. In fact, things were better than they had been before Thanos.

“We’ve got company.” Peter mumbled against her lips as his Peter Tingle went wild and he broke the kiss, nodding his head towards where Nick Fury was approaching the young couple.

She groaned and buried her face in his shoulder. “How likely is it that if we ran, he would find us and drag us into it anyways?”

“Oh 100%. Nick Fury doesn’t like being ghosted. You wanna do it anyways?”

Y/N glanced up with chaos in her eyes and Peter grinned, grabbing her hand and pulling her off the sun lounger as they took off running and laughing towards the beach.

They were in it together. Until the end.


End file.
